Wishes , Secrets and Promises
by RenegadeOyu
Summary: Amu sees a different side of Kukai. She soon realizes that the happy-go-lucky everyday Kukai everyone knows isn't the real him at all. She learns the truth about his life, and does what she can to make it better. Rated T just to be safe
1. Long Way Home

It wasn't like Amu to take the long way home. She normally hurried home and went up to her room for pretty much the rest of the evening anyway. It's not like her parents were actually going to worry about her. Besides, it was a really beautiful day. It was peaceful and quiet and-

"Amu-chaaaannnn" Ran whined, "Where are we Going?" She said as she lazily sat on Amu's head.

"I don't know." Amu replied, lost in thought. She didn't know her way very well. All she knew was that her house was about half an hour north from a small white-and-blue Bridge. She'd been here a few times with her parents.

"But Amu, we'll miss dinner!" Miki yelled. "Why are you taking the long way home?"

"And I'm hungry." Su added.

Amu held her head in frustration, "Don't you guys ever stop complaining?"

Amu stopped talking; she could already see the small bridge, and there was someone sitting on it. It was a boy, with red-ish brown hair. Amu Recognized him immediately. It was Kukai Soma, and above him was Daichi, his shugo chara. He was looking at the lake, not moving at all. He didn't look like the everyday Kukai she saw, he looked more serious and bothered.

Kukai hadn't noticed Amu until she was standing behind him.

"Kukai?"

"Hinamori-Chan!" He said chuckling, "You scared me."

"Sorry," Amu said. Kukai had a wide grin stuck on his face as usual, but his eyes had a sad look in them.

"Everything alright?" Amu asked. She sat down next to him.

"Yeah, " he said unconvincingly. "Well, no." He finally decided. Amu stepped closer until she was standing next to him, staring at the lake too.

"What's wrong?" She finally asked, turning to face him. He didn't look back at her; he was looking at his reflection in the water.

"It's nothing." He said.

Amu knew that 'it's nothing' too well. She used it all the time when she didn't want to talk to people about her problems. She wanted to ask him again, and again until she got an answer, but she knew that if she did so she would be here until the next morning.

"So, why are you here?" He asked her.

"I- I don't know." She answered. "Why are _you _here?" She shot back.

"I didn't really feel like going home."

" Won't your parents get worried?"

"Nah."

"You sure?"

"Positive." He picked up his school books and got off the bridge.

"But it is sort of late so I guess I should head home, since i live kinda far from here." He said.

Suddenly, Amu's X accessories turned into hearts and she no longer had any control over her mouth. " Can you walk me home? I'm super afraid of the dark, and I don't want to walk back alone! "

Amu covered her mouth with both hands as she death glared towards Ran, who was now floating away from Amu. Kukai gave her a confused look. He suddenly realized what had happened and decided to take advantage of it.

"Hinamori? Afraid of the dark? cute." he said chuckling.

Amu felt her cheeks get warm as he walked away. _i am so going to kill Ran! _ she thought angrily.

"You coming ?" He asked when he noticed she wasn't following him. She smiled and hurried next to him.

The two of them walked in pure silence, until Kukai burst into laughter.

"What !" Amu asked, afraid he was laughing at her, or something she'd done.

"Are you actually afraid of the dark?" He asked. "Or did you just say that to get me to walk you home ?" he had a mischievous grin glued to his face.

"N-no !" Amu half yelled, "It's not like that !" But it was no use trying to convince him, for he just grinned and kept walking.

"Sure." He chuckled.

Time passed by quickly, Amu was already standing at her front door. Amu could clearly see her parents spying on her. It's not like they had amazing spy skills or anything. Unless you'd call slightly opening the door and looking through it amazing spying skills… Below her parents was her little sister Ami. They each looked at Amu and Kukai with curious expressions. She tried to just ignore them and focus on Kukai instead, as if that was possible with six eyes staring at her intensely.

"So, um…" she wasn't quite sure what to say to him, "Thanks for walking me home." She said awkwardly.

"No problem!" Kukai said, trying not to look at the people behind the door.

Just as Kukai was about to leave, Amu felt drops of rain fall on her hand. She looked at Kukai who seemed to have noticed the same thing.

"It's just rain, no biggie!"

As if on cue, they both heard thunder not too far away, and to top it off, it began raining harder.

"Amu," Amu's mom had fully opened the door, "You can't let your boyfriend out in this weather!"

"Mom, he's not my boyfriend." She heard her dad let out a sigh of relief. Why were they doing this to her?

"Well then," her mother said gesturing towards the door, "Why don't you invite your friend to eat dinner with us?"

Amu looked at Kukai, she couldn't read the expression on his face.

"I really should be going home-"

"I can't let you walk home in such weather !" Amu's mom interrupted. Before Kukai could say anything else she dragged him into the house.

"Super Characters !" Ami yelled as she noticed Daichi, who was now floating as high as possible.

"We didn't want to eat without you, so dinner's going to be cold." Amu's mom continued.

Amu sighed in frustration. Kukai was basically forced to her house to eat cold dinner. This would be fun...


	2. Dinner and a Sleepover

Amu was pretty satisfied with how dinner was going. It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. And turns out cold chicken stir fry wasn't that bad. One thing that Amu wasn't enjoying however, was that her parents were basically going over every embarrassing moment in Amu's childhood, but somehow, she was ok with it. She wasn't even that embarrassed. Even if Kukai was laughing hard at every story.

"I especially remember, until she was about eight or nine," Her mother said, "She was scared of fireworks. Every time we went to the summer festival to see them she'd start crying and hide her face in our shoulders." Everyone but Amu laughed.

"She didn't like any loud noises, really." Her father commented. "She'd even get scared of the blender sometimes. " They laughed even harder. Amu simply chewed on her cold piece of chicken grudgingly.

"Well, dinner was great Mrs Hinamori, thank you. But I really should head back home." Kukai said.

Outside it was raining harder than ever, and the thunder had gotten even louder, making Amu jump every time she heard it, which only caused everyone to laugh.

"You plan on walking back to your house in this weather?" Amu's mom asked. "I won't allow it!"

Amu knew this had been going too well. What was her mother thinking by making Kukai stay? Obviously they couldn't just dump him outside and make him walk home, but they still couldn't force him to stay!

"We would gladly drive you back to your house, but our car needs to be fixed." She said looking at Amu's father, who had taken a sudden interest at his feet.. "You can stay here until the storm goes away.". Her mom continued. Amu's father didn't seem to agree with this idea.

Amu looked at Kukai apologetically, but he simply shot her a smile.

After a long ten minutes, Kukai finally agreed to stay until the storm was over, even though Amu's father still didn't seem okay with the idea of it all.

After the dishes had been cleaned, Amu and Kukai headed to the living room to lie down. Amu sighed.

"I'm sorry, family can be bit weird-" "It's okay." Kukai said cutting her off, "I think your family's awesome."

Amu smiled, she was glad he seemed to like her family.

Time passed by, as both of them talked about anything and just about everything. The storm hadn't stopped, and it was already nearing midnight.

Amu yawned, and Kukai kept nodding off.

"Kukai?" Amu said while yawning.

"Hm? " Kukai responded sleepily.

Amu didn't respond right away. "I don't want you to graduate next week." No response. "It just won't be the same without you!" still no response. "Are you even listening?" Amu sighed as soon as she heard snoring. She got closer to him to see if he actually was sleeping. She couldn't help but laugh; he had one arm hanging on the side of the couch, with his mouth wide open.

"Good night, Kukai-kun." She whispered as she turned the lights off.

As soon as she walked in her room,let her body fall on her bed, she was exhausted. She wasn't used to staying up this late. All of a sudden, the thought dawned on her; Kukai Soma was sleeping in her living room!

Ran, Miki ad Su observed Amu as she thought about the fact that a boy was sleeping at her house. She laid her head on her pillow. Her eyes felt heavy. She closed them and not a minute later she was fast asleep.


	3. Babysitting

_Amu did her best not to make any noise as she walked down the stairs. She couldn't see where she was going, since it was dark, but she didn't want to turn on the lights and wake up Kukai._

_She didn't normally get hungry in the middle of the night, she supposed tonight was an exception._

_She walked carefully and tried not to fall, but of course, with her luck, she missed a step and fell. She prepared herself for a painful landing, but it never came. Instead she felt warm strong arms catch her. She opened her eyes and realized Kukai had caught her. He was looking straight into her eyes._

"_Hinamori, you're so clumsy." He laughed. It was an angelic laugh that echoed through Amu's mind. She looked deeply into his eyes as he put her down. They gazed into each other's eyes until all of the sudden, Kukai leaned closer to her and kissed her._

_Kukai…._

Amu woke up and sat up quickly. Her heart was pounding fast. What was that about? Why on earth was she dreaming about Kukai! . She felt her cheeks get warm.

_W-why am I blushing! _She asked herself as she covered her face with her hands. She suddenly remembered that Kukai had slept in her living room the night before.

_Is he awake? _Amu wondered. She looked at her clock, it was already eleven. She usually never slept this late. Normally her parents woke her up, asking her to watch Ami or something like that.

"What's wrong Amu-Chan?" Ran asked worriedly.

"She's probably thinking of Tadase-Kun." Miki said after stretching.

"N-no! I'm not!" Amu looked up at her shugo charas and wondered how they managed to always be so cheerful in the morning. She then noticed Su wasn't among them.

_Probably on a morning walk as usual. _Amu told herself.

Amu was about to go downstairs when she realized she couldn't simply let Kukai see her in her bed-head hair and pajamas , so she looked through her closet.

After a good ten minutes, she finally decided on a cute pink top with a matching skirt. She tied her hair in two pigtails, and decorated them with her usual X accessories.

When Amu thought she looked somewhat normal, she opened her door and confidently walked out. She was extra careful on the stairs to make sure she wouldn't fall, causing her to get weird looks from Ran and Miki.

When Amu arrived downstairs, she was shocked to see that Kukai wasn't in the living room anymore.

"Maybe he already left." Ran guessed.

_Why?_ Amu wondered, _did mom and dad scare him off or something? _She thought sarcastically.

"Yo! Hinamori!"

Amu turned around, and to her surprise, Kukai was sitting at the kitchen table.

"Kukai," She said, "G-good morning.."

"You're parents are gone, by the way." He added.

"Oh. They are?" Amu thought it was a bit weird that he was the one telling her that her parents were gone.

"Yep! And they told me to wake you up and tell you that you have to baby-sit your little sister."

Amu sighed. Of course, he had to watch her sister. She hated it when her parents did this to her.

"Did they tell you where they were going? And for how long?"

Kukai shook his head.

"So why didn't you wake me up?"

"Because it was funny to hear you snore" Kukai laughed.

"Wh- I don't snore!"

"Yeah you do! And you talk in your sleep too!"

"How do you know?" _wait! What! _Amu thought, _what was I saying !_

"Oh yeah? Well… at least I don't drool!" Amu stated.

"Heh, were you watching me while I slept?" Kukai asked, grinning.

Amu felt the blood rise to her cheeks. "N-no! I was talking to you and the next thing I know you were sleeping!"

"Shugo Chawa!"

Amu turned around, her sister was chasing after Su and Daichi as they were flying for their lives.

"So what are you still doing here?" Amu asked.

"Hm? Do you want me to leave already?" He looked away over-dramatically, "I'm … very hurt."

Amu laughed, the boy could seriously be an actor if he ever wanted, but his acting skills didn't work on Amu, she knew him well enough to know when he was joking and when he was being serious. "No, I don't. It's just that yesterday my mom somewhat forced you to stay, I wasn't sure if you actually wanted to."

"So then, you want me to stay?"

"W-wel , y-y'know ! if you want to, that is." Amu realised she was stuttering. She groaned in frustration, "You don't have to leave, and you don't have to stay!" _there! That sounded somewhat normal._ She lied to herself.

Kukai laughed, "Well, it's better than going home, so why not?"

Amu was glad that Kukai seemed to like being at her house, but she also wondered what he'd meant by his last comment.

"Is my house that great?" She asked.

"It's not your house I like." He said with a grin.

"Huh-" Amu's cheeks reddened.

"C'mon Hinamori-chan! We better get cookin' before your sister starves to death!"

Ami was standing up on the table, "Nee-chan! Me want pancakes and eggs!" Amu sighed.

"Do you even know how to cook?" She asked Kukai.

"Nope!" He admitted. "But I can try."

After several pancake fails, the gang finally decided to order ramen.

Ami was miraculously not paying attention to the guardian characters. No one was saying anything.

Kukai was the first to break the silence, "Are you going to the summer festival?"

Amu shook her head. "I didn't get a ticket." She said lowering her head.

"Well, the Guardians each get a free ticket every year so, that's technically not true."

"Really? No one told me."

"Yeah, it's sort of a 'thanks' from the school. The guardians usually go together every year."

"That sounds great!" Amu didn't know why she was so happy to go to the summer festival. Usually she didn't even like it. She used to go all the time with her parents until her sister was born.

Maybe it was because she would be there with her prince… And maybe somebody else?

_N-no! I don't like anyone besides my prince! Do I?_

Was it possible that she liked someone other than Tadase? She looked over at Kukai, who had a mouthful of noodles hanging from his mouth.

They both burst into laughter.

Sometime around noon, Amu's parents finally arrived. "Well, Hinamori, not that I don't like babysitting with you and all, but I really should go now." Kukai headed towards the door and Amu followed.

Then Kukai did something that surprised Amu. Something she hadn't expected at all; He kissed her cheek, which was now flushed. Her eyes widened.

"K-Kukai… W-why did you do that?" She stuttered. She noticed his cheeks reddened as well.

"Because I wanted to." He said as he poked her forehead playfully. "Well, see ya!" He said as he disappeared through the door.

Amu stood at the door, shocked.

"She's not moving." Miki stated.

"Looks like she can add Kukai to her list of love interests!" Ran chanted as she dodged Amu's furious hand. But maybe they were right, maybe she did like Kukai… Even if she didn't quite realize it yet.


	4. Study Buddy

"Oh! And students don't forget about the big test coming up!" Announced the clumsy teacher, seconds before the bell rang.

_Great, a test… How fun_ Amu told herself sarcastically as she walked out of the classroom. She knew she was going to have to study for this one. And where does one go when one wishes to study? Why, the library of course.

Amu's charas flew around the library as she sat at a table doing homework.

"Hmm…. 9.5 – _h_ = 6.7 …. Solve 'h' …" Amu thought hard. _This is easy stuff! I should know this!_

"That's easy! The answer is 2.8!"

Amu nearly fell off her chair at the sound of Kukai's voice.

"K-Kukai! You scared me." Her heart was racing.

"whadya doing here?" Kukai picked up one of Amu's exercise sheets. "math huh ?"

Amu nodded, "it's for the test." She grabbed her sheet back.

"You do know the library closes in like ten minutes, right?"

"doesn't the library close at seven?" Amu avoided Kukai's eyes.

"Yeah," He said, "it almost _is_ seven."

Kukai watched as Amu let that sink in and panick. She grabbed all her stuff at once in a failed attempt to leave. He couldn't help but laugh under his breath.

"Want me to carry your books or something?" He asked as Amu sighed and nodded. She had at least six books, and they weren't very thin. As soon as she handed them to Kukai he gasped and dropped them. He clutched his right hand. He was clearly in pain.

"Kukai! A-are you okay !" Ran, Miki, Su and were now with Amu who was at Kukai's side.

"I'm fine." He said. He picked up the books again. He felt pretty stupid for dropping the books… "My hand just, kind of, hurts."

_Kind of? _Amu could see it in his eyes that it hurt a little more than 'kind of'. "It's okay, if you're hurt I'll carry the books-"

"No, don't worry, I'll carry em'"

_Why is he being so stubborn!_ She thought as they walked out the library.

They walked in silence for a while, until Amu had enough of Kukai's 'politeness'. She could tell he was in serious pain! It was nice of him to go through the trouble of carrying her books, but she didn't want him to be in pain because of her!

"You know if it hurts too much I can carry them myself."

"Nah, I can handle it!"

Amu couldn't stand it anymore. She took the books from Kukai's hands and carried them herself.

"I'm going to carry them, okay?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"What happened?" She asked him once they were near the bridge not too far from her house.

"Huh?" Kukai gave her a confused look.

"Your hand? You didn't just randomly wake up with your hand like that, right?"

"Um … Soccer practice." There was something about the tone of his voice that Amu found suspicious. His knuckles were red and swollen. It didn't look like a soccer injury to her.

"Did you go to the doctor?" She asked him. He shook his head.

"You should. It looks like a pretty serious injury. What if it's broken?"

"I'm fine Amu, don't worry."

That was the first time Amu had heard Kukai call her by her first name. It felt weird, but in a good way.

"Do you want help with your studying?" Kukai asked when he noticed Amu wasn't talking. "Since I'm good at math, and I'm a year ahead of you… I could help you. I-if you want, that is."

Amu was surprised by the sudden offer.

"O-Okay! Sure!" She felt stupid and mentally hated herself for not thinking of a better response than 'okay sure'.

"Well, thanks for walking me home… again." Amu said once she was at her front door. The walk had felt so short.

"No problem!" Kukai shot her a smile, "So when do you want To study? Tomorrow?

Amu nodded. "After the guardians', at the library?" Kukai nodded. Amu had a feeling she knew what was about to happen. She shuffled her feet awkwardly while staring at the ground. Then, just as she'd predicted Kukai pressed his lips to her cheek as it turned bright red. It was so strange how a small, quick peck on the cheek could make Amu feel the way she did.

"Well, I'll see ya tomorrow Hinamori!" Kukai said as he walked in the direction of his house. Amu waved goodbye to him.

Amu was completely lost in thought that night. Not even her charas could get through to her. She was lying on her bed looking at her ceiling.

She knew she had strong feelings for Kukai, there was no doubt about it. The way he was always nice with her, and the random kisses.. How could she not like him? He was, after all, one of her closest friends… and her new study buddy!


	5. Masks and Secrets

Amu looked at the clock. _Only ten more minutes! _She told herself. Normally she didn't really mind the Guardian meetings, but today's was extremely BORING! Amu didn't really care that she was at the meeting. No. To be perfectly honest she just wanted to get the work over with and spend time with Kukai. She looked forward to spending time with him. She had started to feel even closer to him than she used to.

She dared a glance at his direction, he was talking in a low voice with Yaya. They were sitting at a different table than Amu was. She was sitting with Tadase and Nadeshiko. Amu was dead curious as to what Kukai and Yaya could possibly be talking about. It was frustrating. Not that it really mattered to her anything, right?

Yaya whispered something in Kukai's ear that made him blush like crazy. Amu wondered what she'd said when both of them looked towards her. Amu quickly looked away, she didn't want them to think she was staring at them! Even if she was.

Amu felt so relieved when Tadase announced the end of the meeting. Everyone was gathering their things and leaving. Kukai, who was usually the fastest to leave, was the slowest today. Maybe he didn't want to study with her. She hesitated, then walked towards him.

"You ready?" She asked him. He nodded.

They began walking towards the school exit when Amu stopped.

"There's just one problem though." Amu said awkwardly. She knew she should've mentioned it earlier… but it had slipped her mind. "We can't study at my house."

"Why not?" Kukai asked.

"My mom's doing this interview thing for her magazine and she said she didn't want anyone to disturb her."

"So where are we going to study then?"

"Well I was thinking the library but –"

"-Renovations." 

"yeah.. so I was thinking, if it's possible, we could go to your h-"

"No." Kukai cut her off. "We can't."

Amu was about to ask why when he changed the subject.

"How about we go to the park? It's a nice day out."

She thought there was something suspicious about the fact that he didn't want her at his house, but she decided not to say anything about it.

"Okay." She gave in.

At the park, they sat on a bench shadowed by trees. Amu was understanding math a bit better. It still confused her but she was starting to think she might actually pass the test. Maybe. After a while, They decided to take a brake, and it was then that Amu noticed something odd about Kukai, something she'd never noticed before; scars. On his wrists.

_No._ she told herself. _He wouldn't! this is Kukai! mr always-happy-and-smiling! _She couldn't help but look at the scars. There were quite a few. She could tell they were old. But it still somewhat disturbed her. Could they really be self inflicted? She doubted they were accidental. But this just didn`t make any sense.

"Yo, Amu? Are you listening?"

"Huh?" She said looking away from his wrists to his eyes.

"Are you okay ?"

Amu nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. Let's just get back to studying."

She realised she didn't know Kukai as well as she'd thought. There were many things about him she didn't know. Like why he didn't want her at his house and the scars. How could she not have noticed it earlier? They were pretty obvious. She found it hard to believe that he would have ever do such a thing. He was always carrying a huge smile on his face and he was always in a good mood or at least he seemed to be. Could it be that he had simply been putting on a mask and pretending to be happy ?


	6. Playing with dolls

As they walked back to Amu's house, there were a million questions Amu wanted to ask. But she simply kept her mouth shut. It was then she realized that Ran, Miki and Su weren't there. In fact she couldn't remember seeing them all day. She'd been to occupied with waiting eagerly for school to end.

"I'm sorry Kukai i really have to go!" She said. She could already see the bridge so she knew she wasn't far from her house. "See ya!" She said as she rand towards the bridge. Kukai gave her a confused look.

''See ya?''

It took her a few minutes, but finaly she reached her house. She was completely out of breath. What if Easter had gotten to them ! Amu was about to go inside until she suddenly remembered her mom's interview.

Amu quietly opened the back door and made her way upstairs. Her mom was talking to some old lady on the couch, and her dad was taking pictures of them. She hurried to her room and shut the door.

"Ran!" She yelled looking around. "Miki!" They were nowhere to be found. "Su!" She looked everywhere she could think of. Closet, under her bed, drawers, everywhere! Then she heard laughter.

''Guys! This isn't funny!'' She said frustratedly. ''Where are you?'' She heard the laughter again. Then she realized it wasn't her shugo charas, i twas Ami.

She crossed the hallway and dashed into her sister's room. She sighed in relief when she saw Ami trying to brush Su's hair with a tiny hairbrush for dolls. Ran and Miki were .. well, trapped inside a dollhouse.

"Ami! i told you a million times not to touch my stuff!" She said as she picked up her shugo chara eggs. Ami had tear filled eyes. Amu hated when she did this. She always found a way to make Amu feel let go of Su and she flew quickly towards Amu. Ran and Miki wasted no time flying to Amu's side either.

"I'm sorry Ami, but these aren't toys. okay? you can't play with them like they're dolls." She could tell Ami was super sad about it, and extremely disapointed, the teary eyes said it all, but she nodded,

"Amu-chan we missed you!" Ran yelled.

"Don't leave us at home again!" Su pleaded.

"Why didn't you guys come with me to school this morning?" Amu asked.

"When we woke up you were already gone." Miki explained.

Amu smiled, "I'll wait for you guys next time. Don't worry."

"Tell us what happened Amu chan!" Su begged once they were alone in Amu's room.

Amu sighed. "Nothing happened we just studdied and stuff." She didn't really want to talk to them. She sighed as she let herself fall on her bed. They kept bugging her to tell them but she ignored them. She was unusually tired. It was only six, yet she felt as if it was midnight. She layed on her bed and closed her eyes and fell asleep not long after.


	7. Stupid in Love

Amu looked outside in disbelief! When she'd left for school that morning, the sun was shining brightly in the sky. But now it was now hiding behind bunch of rain clouds.

Amu was waiting for Kukai at the school exit. They were supposed to study, again.

"Maybe he forgot?" Ran asked.

"He didn't forget, he's coming."

Amu jumped at the sight of Daichi. Kukai's shugo chara.

"Where is he?" She asked.

"He's right h-" Daichi's eyes widened as he realised Kukai wasn't with him. Not a minute later, Amu noticed Kukai hurrying towards her.

"Sorry I didn't mean to make you wait." He said with a huge smile glued to his face as usual, which just reminded Amu of the previous day. But she pushed that out of her head.

"Man," Kukai sighed, "It's raining." He looked at Amu.

"We still can't go to my house." She said. She felt stupid as her cheeks turned a faint pink. "It turns out the interview thing wasn't yesterday, it was today."

"And the library's still closed." Kukai said under his breath. _Who's dumb idea was it to stars construction on the last week of school?_ He thought.

"Well," Amu said awkwardly, "We could always just go to your hou-"

"No we can't." Kukai cut her off.

Amu couldn't stand it anymore. All the confusion of the past few days was boiling inside her mind.

"Why do you so badly not want me to go to your house !" She half yelled.

"Why do you so badly want to go to my house?" He snapped back at her.

"I don't." Amu said defensively. "It's just, I feel like your hiding something from me. It makes me feel like you don't trust me."

There was a long awkward silence as Amu looked at her feet and Kukai thought about what she had said.

"I'm not hiding anything!" He snapped. When he saw the slightly hurt look on Amu's face he sighed. "I'm sorry, it's just.. my family, they're not really like yours."

"So?" Amu couldn't understand what the big deal was.

"No, you don't get it, my brothers, they're real jerks."

"They can't be that bad."

"They are." Kukai reassured her. "Trust me."

"Then we have nowhere to go." Amu stated.

"If we go to my house, just… promise me you'll ignore my brothers."

"okay i will." Amu said unsurely."why?''

''You'll see when we get there''

It had been about 20 minutes, neither Kukai nor Amu said a word. They simply walked quickly under the rain.

"We're almost there." Kukai finally said. Amu noticed he seemed nervous. What could there be at his house that he didn't want Amu to see? Maybe he thought his family was embarrassing ?

If so, Amu knew how he felt. Her family could sometimes be super embarrassing. But still, they couldn't be _that_ embarassing, right?

"That's Kukai's house!" Daichi yelled from a few feet away from everyone. Ran, Miki and Su had gone into their eggs to protect themselves from the rain.

Kukai's house wasn't too big or too small. It looked like a pretty old house though.

As they reached the doorstep, Kukai took a deep breath and opened the door.

As Amu stepped inside, a strong odour of beer and cigarettes hit her nose. She looked to her left, there was a man on the couch with a can of beer in his hands.

"heeyy… looks like little bro finally brought home a girlfriend." He laughed. "Did you buy what i asked you to?" He asked Kukai. Amu wondered what he was talking about.

"No I couldn't go to the high school." Kukai sounded, almost scared. Amu wondered why. But she started to see what he meant by saying his brothers were jerks.

"we'll talk about this later.'' He said in a rather threatening voice."Aren't you going to introduce me to your girlfriend?" He asked lazily.

Kukai sighed. "Amu, Kaido. Kaido, Amu. And she's not my girlfriend." He mumbled.

Kukai ignored his drunk brother's comment and picked up the few cans of beer on the floor and threw them away. As Kukai did this, his brother belched. Kukai sighed in frustration.

"C'mon Amu." He said heading to the other room. "We're gonna study in here."

Amu followed Kukai to the other room. She wondered where Kukai's parents were. She hadn't seen them yet. She wondered if they were as embarrassing as her parents. Now that she thought about it, she'd never heard Kukai talk about his parents. He only ever talked about his brothers.

Kukai sat on a couch and put his school stuff on the mini coffee table in front of him. Amu did the same as she sat next to him. She felt uneasy. She always felt uneasy being in someone else's house for the first time.

**Kukai's POV**

I took a deep breath. I tried to act normal, well, as normal as you can act when your drunk brother is yelling random stupid stuff at you. I ignored him. Or at least i tried.

I could tell Amu was uncomfortable, because she always looked awkwardly at her feet when she was uncomfortable. It was something I'd noticed about her.

"Do you want something to eat or drink?" I asked. Trying to make it less uneasy for her.

"okay." She said.

I headed towards the kitchen and poured two glasses of orange juice. Just as I was putting the juice away I heard the front door open and close. Another of my brothers was home. Great. As long as it wasn't… -

of course it had to be!

"Amu-Chan," I said half disgustedly, "This is my brother Rento." I said as he walked in the room. I put the orange juice on the coffee table.

"What are you two kids up to, huh?" Rento asked. "Hope you two aren't doing anything inappropriate." He said with a smirk.

"W-we're just studying!" I said angrily .Why did he always have to be like this?

"Studying?" he said looking at our books, then at us. "please, everyone knows when you bring a girl home to study you don't actually 'study'." He turned to Amu and winked, "Right?"

I gritted my teeth. _Of the billion people in the world, why did I have to get him as a brother! _I asked myself.

"C'mon Amu, let's just go upstairs."

"See, now that's what I'm talking about !" Rento grinned. As i picked up my stuff i accidentally knocked the glass of juice over. I gulped. I knew what was coming. My drunk of a brother stood up and looked at me, well he glared at me really.

"It won't clean itself up!" He yelled. It's what he loved to do the most after all.

"I was going to, chill." wrong thing to say.

"DON'T TALK BACK TO ME!" He yelled.

"I WAS JUS-"

"CLEAN IT UP"

"STOP YELLING!" Amu screamed. "It's not his fault ! So don't yell at him for it !"

Kaido looked at Amu, then at me.

"You're lucky your girlfriend's here or i swear i'd…" he didn't say anything else, he simply sat back down on the couch like the lazy fat ass he was.

I grabbed the paper towel roll and began cleaning up. I felt so embarrassed. I knew it had been a mistake to bring Amu to my house. The next thing i knew she was right next to me, helping me clean up. I smiled. She was honestly the best friend anyone could ever ask for.

"Come on, let's go upstairs." I told her once we were done cleaning. I hurried to my room before one of my brothers decided to embarrass me more.

"I'm sorry Amu, my brothers are real jerks sometimes." I said. As I closed the door. I turned around and realized Amu was blushing. For some reason it made my heart beat faster.

"I-it's okay, really." She said.

"they're just so annoying." I looked away from her.

"Everyone's family can be annoying sometimes." She smiled which i swear made my heart skipped a beat. Like it usually did.

Every time I felt sad or depressed, Amu always said something to cheer me up. That's Amu for ya. Always making people feel better. But there was nothing she could say to not make me feel embarrassed by my brothers. I honestly hated them.

"Does everyone's family yell at each other all day long sometimes?" I asked rather sarcastically.

"Is that why you didn't want me to come here?" She asked. "because of them?"

"Sort of." He said. "I just don't like bringing people to my house. I'm sorry, I should've just said something." I felt stupid now.

"It's alright." She said. "But … your brother.. Kaido, he seems pretty mean though." She said hesitantly.

"Y-yeah." I admitted. "Today he's actually nicer than usual." I wasn't joking.

"Does he ever … hurt you?" She asked hesitatingly. I froze. What was i supposed to tell her? _yeah we occasionally just , you know, hit each other and stuff. that's brotherly love for ya!_

"No." I lied. "Well," I said, desperately trying to change the subject. "we better study now, since your test is tomorrow." We both sat down and looked over notes. There was even the occasional reach-for-the-pencil-at-the-same-time moments. Whenever it happened Amu's cheeks would become pink-ish.I couldn't help but smile every time.

I remembered when I'd took that very test a year before. I remember studying hard for it, without anyone's help. Maybe that's why I decided to help Amu with her test. Because I knew what it was like to study for a big test by yourself. Or maybe it was because I was crazy for the girl. Yeah, the second one.

Time went by quickly, and Amu had to leave. I walked her to the door, as a gentlemen would obviously do.

"So," I said awkwardly. "Good luck on your test tomorrow."

"Thanks!" Suddenly, her arms were wrapped around me. "Thank you for helping me Kukai."

"N-no problem." It was my turn to blush. She let go and walked through the doorway. I watched her leave, I couldn't stand it anymore. I grabbed her hand, pulled her towards me and kissed her on the lips. It felt odd, almost … unreal. That's when I realised it was unreal. I hadn't actually grabbed her hand, I hadn't actually kissed her, I had chickened out… again. She was already on the other side of the road. I could hear her talking to her shugo charas.

I closed the door and walked back to my room. I was such an idiot!

Without thinking I punched the wall. I knew it was stupid, since I'd already stupidly hurt my hand like this. But hey, you do stupid things when you're stupid in love.

* * *

**I hope you guys like the story so far :D if you don't then .. well ... . stop reading it... tell me whatcha think ^^  
**


	8. Blank Tests and Random Presents

Amu stared down at her blank test. She knew this stuff! She'd studied this over and over, even without Kukai. Because, to be honest, she didn't always pay attention the way she should. The clock ticked and tocked, yet Amu's test remained blank.

She answered the multiple questions at random. And some of the stuff she did know. She could just imagine what Kukai would say at a time like this; "don't worry about how things turn out in the future. Just do your best." either that or he'd yell at her for forgetting what they studied for hours.

Time was going by too fast for Amu. By the time the test was over, she had answered 27 out of 55 questions. She sighed as she handed the test to the teacher.

Amu headed towards the cafeteria where the students were to stay until all tests were over. She looked for somebody to sit with, but the rest of the guardians probably still had their tests. Just when she thought she was going to have to sit alone, someone tapped her shoulder. She turned around to be face to face with Yaya. Maybe she wouldn't have to sit alone after all.

So, she wasn't sitting alone. That was great. But Yaya was completely ignoring her. She was talking to her fourth grade friends at the neighbouring table. She actually kept glaring at Amu, which made her feel uncomfortable. Amu rested her head on the table. She wondered if Kukai had finished his test. And perhaps he was on his way right now to see her.

Yeah, as if. Just because he'd been acting different around her didn't mean he liked her. Right?

"Hinamori-san," Amu lifted her head, Tadase was sitting down next to her. She felt her heart beat faster.

"T-Tadase-kun. You already finished the test?" She asked stupidly. If he wouldn't have finished he wouldn't be here! She told herself.

"Yes. I did." Tadase said with his usual charming smile. Amu returned the smile.

"I assume you know about the festival this Saturday?" He asked. Amu nodded.

"Will you be going with the rest of us?" He asked. His eyes seemed filled with hope. Like a child's when he's opening a present on Christmas morning. At least, that's what they reminded Amu of.

"I'm not sure." Amu said in her "cool & spicy" tone. "Maybe."

Why can't I just say yes! Amu thought to herself. Why was she always her stubborn self around Tadase? Now that she thought of it, she barely acted stubborn around Kukai. Why?

"Okay." Tadase said. "Well, I hope you come." Amu nodded.

It wasn't long after that Nadeshiko joined them. But Kukai didn't show. At least not until the last five minutes.

Amu was happy to see him. Even more than she admitted to herself. But sadly he only stayed for a short while.

He glanced towards Amu. But for a short second. As if he was afraid to look at her for too long.

Suddenly, out of the blue, Yaya stomped out of the cafeteria without saying a single word to anyone.

Everyone looked at each other worriedly, then Kukai then went after her. Amu suddenly felt a little bit…. Jealous? She felt mad towards her self too, for being jealous over such a stupid thing!

On her way home, Amu wondered whether she should actually go to the festival. Yes, it would be fun and she would probably love it. But what if she did something embarrassing in front of Tadase or Kukai? Or what if they ignored her? What if they laughed at her? What if they suddenly wouldn't want to be her friend?

Come on Amu, you're over-exaggerating. She told herself.

Suddenly, Amu felt two arms wrap around her shoulders. She only knew one person who would dare be such a pig as to hug her from behind without warning.

"Ikuto!" She broke free of his grasp and slapped him across the face. Not too hard, she didn't want to hurt him, but hard enough so he'd stop being a bad kitty.

"I missed you." Ikuto said getting awkwardly close to her face. Amu's cheeks reddened and her heart began to beat faster.

Without hesitating, she pushed Ikuto's face away.

"What do you want Ikuto?"

He got close to her once again.

"I want you." He said with a wink, and burst into laughter when Amu blushed like crazy.

"Stop it!" She said angrily while pushing him away. "Why do you always do that?" She half yelled.

"Because it's fun." Was Ikuto's response.

Amu crossed her arms angrily and walked ahead.

"I hear your going to that festival thing with the kiddie prince." Ikuto said as he chuckled.

"Wh-Not ... it's … How do you know I'm even going to a festival?"

Ikuto walked until he was inches away from her face and poked her cheek.

"I have my ways."

Amu's cheeks, once again, reddened. She went to push him once again but he dodged her easily.

Ikuto reached in his pocked and pulled out a little box. He tossed it to Amu who cached it only by pure luck.

"What's this?" She asked curiously. Wondering if this was another of his 'funny' ideas.

"Open it." Ikuto said carelessly. So she did. She slowly opened it to reveal a necklace inside. There was a pendant with a small stone attached to it.

"Do you like it?" Ikuto asked.

"It's beautiful," She said, "but why are you showing it to me?"

Ikuto couldn't help but laugh. He took the necklace from Amu's hands.

"Keep your hair up for a sec'." He said. Amu did so as Ikuto tied the necklace around her neck.

"It changes colors sometimes." he turned around "well, see ya 'round." He said as he walked away.

"W-wait!" Ikuto stopped and turned towards Amu.

"hm?"

"Thank you." She said. Ikuto nodded and walked away. Why did he always disappear so quickly ?

Why did he give me this? She thought late that night as she lay in her bed.

More importantly why was she making such a big deal out of everything? Maybe it was just a friendly gift. Maybe it wasn't. Either way, she liked it.


	9. Finding Kukai

**. I am so sorry that i haven't updated in a really long time ;_; i hope you will all forgive me.. i'm going to post chapter 10 really soon.. like .. within the next 24 hours soon, because i feel really bad for taking so long.**

**but yeah ... i personally don't like this chapter .-. i think it sucks ... i wrote it kinda quickly .. so that i could update sooner and stuff**

**and i can't take all the credit for this chapter cuz i had help from my friend Jake :3 **

**sooo... ENJOY :D  
**

* * *

Amu looked everywhere she could, but she couldn't find Kukai Anywhere. She looked everywhere in the school, outside the school, and even in the royal garden. The boy was nowhere to be found.

Amu was about ready to give up and go back to the graduation ceremony, when a sudden thought pooped in her head. She decided to check one last place. She knew if she did she might not make it back to the graduation on time, but she'd give it a shot anyways.

It took her a good fifteen minutes to get there, but she was glad she'd came, for she'd found Kukai. At the small bridge near her house. Just like she'd seen him a few days ago, he looked sad and troubled. He was sitting with his feet in the water.

_Maybe he doesn't want to be bothered…. _ Amu thought to herself. _oh well._

Amu sat down next to him. He didn't say anything. He didn't even look at her. He just kept looking at his reflection in the water. Amu wasn't quite sure what to say. She knew something was wrong, that much was obvious. But she was afraid to ask him, in case he didn't feel like talking about it.

Somehow, Amu found the courage and broke the awkward silence.

"Why aren't you at the graduation?" She asked. She waited for an answer but he just kept looking at the water. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to graduate." Kukai felt like a child as he said so. He hated sounding too childish. "My entire life just .. consists of losing things important to me." He sighed. "This, the whole guardians thing, everyone, I don't want to lose all that."

"You won't be losing anyone," Amu said seriously, "That's a promise."

Kukai looked at Amu, making her blush. He flashed her his famous Kukai grin.

"Thanks Amu," He said "You always know just what to say to make me feel better"

Without any warning he pulled her into a long bone crushing hug.

"Y-you know if we stay here we'll miss the graduation.. right?" Amu said. Kukai let her go.

"Then what are we waiting for !" He grabbed her hand and started running. "Let's go!"


	10. Bunnies and Wishes

Amu sighed as she looked at the pile of clothes on her bed. She'd decided to go to the festival after all. But now she had no idea what to wear. This sounded like such a cliché thing to happen to her. They were just clothes, they didn't really matter.

Alright, that wasn't true. She wanted to look good for Kukai- err Tadase – no Kukai ! … well, one of them. She wasn't quite sure anymore which of them she liked. Or if she liked both.

"Amu !" Miki yelled.

"Not now Miki-"

"Look!" Miki threw her little sketch book at Amu. Amu looked at it, and it was a drawing of the cutest outfit she'd ever seen.

"Miki this is adorable!" Amu said looking at the mini sketch. She felt oddly out of character saying so, but she didn't really care at the moment.

~Drew Draw Drawn~

The next thing she knew, Amu was dressed in the outfit that was on the sketch a second ago, and the sketch was of her old clothes that she'd been wearing a minute before.

She looked in the mirror and felt satisfied with her outfit. Knee high black-and-white socks, and a cute white skirt with silver star designs on them, she was wearing a black shirt which made the colours of her necklace (that Ikuto had given her) seem even brighter.

After thanking Miki a million times, Amu finally headed out and caught up with the rest of the guardians. Everyone was waiting for her at the school. Amu's eyes landed on Kukai. He was staring back at her. But it wasn't an awkward stare. It was more of a I'm-glad-to-see-you kind of stare. Amu blushed and smiled.

"Are you ready to go Hinamori-san ? " Tadase asked her. Amu was about to answer when Yaya interrupted her.

"Of course she's ready!" She yelled "Now let's go go go! Yaya wants to win some stuffed animals ! And eat some cotton candy!"

The festival was being held at a park not far from school. It was a very big park. There were loads of people, stalls that sold candy, jewellery, food, face painting etc. basically there was anything you could imagine. There was even a Ferris wheel, spinning cups, and a few other kid rides. There were tons of games to play too, gambling games, guessing games all sorts of fun games with prizes to win. In the middle of it all was a huge stage where music was constantly playing.

The minute they entered the park, Yaya ran for the games and begged Kukai to help her get a big fluffy bunny. Amu found herself suddenly wanting that bunny. She decided to try it.

The game was simple; throw the ball, and break the pyramid. Yet Amu couldn't do it. She tried throwing higher, lower, stronger, faster… nothing worked. She glanced at Yaya who was now holding the bunny in her arms. It was almost bigger than her.

She was about to try to hit the pyramid again when she felt a hand on hers.

"You're doing it all wrong." Kukai said as he positioned Amu's shoulders and elbows. Amu's heart was beating loud and fast.

"Now try."

Amu threw the ball and actually managed to hit the top bottle.

"Here ya go kid." Said the man who was in charge of the game as he handed her a small blue puppy. Amu smiled. It wasn't a huge cute bunny, but it was good enough.

She thanked Kukai and hugged the blue puppy, that is .. until she realized how girly she was being.

For the next hour, the guardians played games, listened to music and had loads of fun. Then it was finally time for the fireworks. They were among hundreds of people, meaning they could barely see anything. But still they patiently waited for the sky to turn completely black.

Finally, Amu could hear the fireworks, she could even see faint colors in the sky, but the actual fireworks were blocked by strangers' heads. Nadeshiko and Kukai were tall enough to see most of them, so they were fine. Yaya was on Tadase's shoulders, so she could see them as well, and Tadase was too much of a gentlemen to mind. But Amu was too short to see above others' heads, and she didn't have any shoulders to sit on.

Kukai seemed to notice Amu's problem. He couldn't help but feel bad for her. He got an idea and without warning or anything he grabbed her hand and began to walk through the crowd of people.

"Kukai! Where are you going?" She asked.

"you'll see." He responded with a grin.

"What about the others?"

"I think they'll manage without us."

Beyond the crowd of people there was a forest which Kukai dragged Amu through.

_Where on earth is he going ! _Amu thought. Her heart was beating faster than usual. She wondered why he was dragging her through a forest, when they finally walked out of the forest and onto the top of a hill. The sky was completely clear, except for the not too far away fireworks. They had a perfect view of the festival and the sky.

"It's so pretty," Amu said as she looked at the fireworks.

"My mom and I used to come here every year." Kukai said as he sat down. "I was just a kid then, so I wasn't able to see the fireworks, unlike my brothers. So my mom brought me here and we watched the fireworks from here."

Amu sat next to Kukai. She listened to every word he said. Kukai had never talked about his parents to her, so she felt somewhat honoured that he was sharing this with her.

They sat there in silence watching the fireworks together. They could hear faint 'ooh's and 'ahh's from the crowd below which was sort of funny.

They didn't go back with the rest of the guardians after the fireworks ended, they stayed on top of the hill and looked up at the stars. Kukai talked, and Amu listened. He told her how he and his mother had stayed after the fireworks also, and simply looked at the stars and talked. He also told her how he hadn't been here ever since his mother had died.

"You must miss her a lot." Amu said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah. I do."

"Do you mind me asking what happened?" Amu bit her lip, afraid that by asking so she would upset or offend Kukai. He didn't say anything for a while, he simply rested his head on the ground and looked up at the sky.

"She killed herself." Amu could tell he didn't want to talk about it. So she didn't say anything else about it. She simply rested her head on the ground next to him and looked at the stars.

"You know what, Amu?"

Amu turned her head to face him and her heart skipped a beat. Their faces were closer than she'd thought.

"I really like you. More than words can explain." He said as his cheeks turned slightly pink. "I know you like Tadase, so I don't really expect you to like me back or anything. But, I just wanted to let you know."

Amu's eyes widened. Her heart was beating fast. She hadn't expected him to say something like this. She had no idea what to say. She knew she liked him back. But she had no idea how to put it into words.

Kukai hadn't expected anything in return so he went back to looking at the stars, holding Amu's hand as he did so.

"Look!" Amu exclaimed. "A shooting star! Did you see it?" She turned to Kukai, he nodded.

"What did you wish for?" Amu asked a few minutes later.

"If I tell you it won't come true." He answered with a smile.

Suddenly Amu heard something coming from the forest. She heard footsteps and whispering. She let go of Kukai's hand and sat up. She saw a pink fluffy rabbit hurry by and suddenly realized who the sudden intruders were.

"I know it's you Yaya," She said as yaya's head popped up from behind a tree.

"You forgot us." Nadeshiko said following Yaya. Not far behind was Tadase also.

"We were wondering where you guys went." Nadeshiko said.

"It's passed midnight! We've been looking for you for almost an hour!" Yaya continued in a whiney voice. She sounded tired and angry. "Can we go now?" She asked.

Amu stood up, as did Kukai. The moment Kukai stood, Yaya begged him if he could carry her because she was tired.

Amu felt sort of jealous, but then she remembered that Kukai had said he liked her, so she didn't have anything to worry about.

She'd already won his heart, and he'd won hers as well even if he didn't know it. All there was left to do, was for Amu to let Kukai know she felt the same way.


	11. Ice Cream and Hand Holding

**I'm sorry for not uploading in.. well months XD I sort of got demotivated with this story because I lost the idea that I originally had. This story might start being sucky now ;-; I apologize. But I thought you all deserved an ending, so I'm still going to give you guys one D This story should be completed by the end of April~ **

Amu looked at the setting sun above the ocean blue. She sighed. "It's so beautiful." She said.

"Not as beautiful as you. " Kukai whispered in her ear. Amu smiled and turned around. She extended her hand, and Kukai kissed it. "May I ask for a dance?" He asked so formally that Amu couldn't help but blush. Suddenly, they weren't on the beach anymore, but in a large ballroom. Amu was dressed in a beautiful golden silk dress. They danced and danced until they couldn't dance anymore.

"I love you Kukai," Amu whispered. She leaned closer to kiss him, when she suddenly heard alarms blaring. She looked around nervously, wondering what was happening.

Amu hit the snooze button a bit too hard, possibly killing her alarm clock, but she didn't really care. She sighed. It had been a week since she'd spoken to Kukai or even seen him. She had been sleeping with the blue little puppy since the night of the festival.

There was a guardian meeting later that day, and she was supposed to go. They were going to meet the new guardian and look over a list of new students for the year. Amu was slightly nervous. This school year was going to be so different. No Kukai.

Amu got dressed and went to the royal garden early. As she was walking, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She'd gotten a text message.

_Kukai: __**Good morning beautiful.**_

Amu felt her cheeks burn blood red. She didn't know what to send back to him. She settled on a plain unoriginal 'Good morning.'

_Kukai: __**Wanna hang out later? :] **_

_Amu: __**I have a guardians meeting. **_

_Kukai: __** That sucks ! What about after the meeting ? **_

_Amu: __**Okay!**_

"Hinamori-san !" Amu turned around to see Tadase walking in her direction. "Decided to come early too?" He asked with his princely smile of his. Amu smiled and nodded.

They walked together in awkward silence. Their shugo charas had flown off god-knows where.

"Did you already meet the new guardian member?" Amu asked, desperate to break this horrible silence. Tadase nodded.

"His name is Kairi."

Amu smiled and wondered what kind of person he would be !

"Amu, there's something else," Tadase said. "I need to tell you something."

Amu blushed, wondering what Tadase could possibly have to tell her.

"We have two new guardian members this year."

"Wh- How ?" Amu asked. "Aren't all the spots already taken?"

Tadase reached into his pocket and handed Amu a letter. It was from Nadeshiko.

_Dear Amu-chan._

_I'm sorry this is so sudden, but I've decided to go to Europe to study dancing. I'll be there for a year before I come back. You'll see me again in a way you've never imagined. I hope your looking forward to the new me._

_"_She asked me to keep it a secret, because she thought you'd be sad." Tadase explained.

Amu wiped her eyes, which were threatening to spout waterfalls. She folded the letter and put it in her own pocket.

The rest of the walk was a blur to her. She could only think of Nadeshiko. Who would she confide in now ? Who would be there to support her with her crushes ?

It only seemed like a few seconds of these horrible, heart breaking thoughts, when Amu was already at the royal garden's door. The meeting went by pretty fast. The new guardians looked okay. The new queen's name was Rima. Both guardians seemed odd to Amu. Mostly because they weren't Kukai and Nadeshiko.

Tadase explained to the two of them what they did at the school, what their roles were. Kairi listened carefully whereas Rima just looked plain bored. There weren't too many new kids this year, apparently. Not as much as the previous years.

"Can we go for ice cream now !" Yaya yelled. "Yaya wants some ice cream."

For some reason, Yaya had really been getting on Amu's nerves lately. She was even more childish and annoying as ever. They were ordering the ice cream when she just kept yelling her order in Amu's ears and tugging at her sleeve. Amu was so glad when she stopped talking. She felt another tug at her sleeve.

"Yaya will you cut that o-" She turned around and gasped. She came face to face with Kukai.

"You told me you had a guardians' meeting." Kukai said. "And you're out here getting ice cream?"

"N-no Kukai It's not th-" Amu tried to explain, but Kukai burst into laughter. She smiled, relieved that he wasn't actually angry. She was about to say something when Yaya tackled Kukai. Then Tadase introduced him to the new guardians and suddenly Amu was alone with the new guardians. She felt kind of awkward being with them.. They were quiet and seemed to be as uncomfortable as she was. She told the woman at the cash the rest of her order and waited for her ice cream.

"Nice little guardians you got there, Strawberry."

Amu's eyes widened. She turned around, as did everyone else, to see where the pervert was hiding. Ikuto suddenly jumped out of a tree close to the ice cream stand and walked towards her.

"Ikuto! What are you doing here?" Tadase yelled. Ikuto stepped towards Amu and looked her in the eye.

"I just .. couldn't stay away from this beautiful girl."

Amu blushed like crazy and slapped his hand away. "Go away Ikuto!" She yelled.

"Oh come on, you know you like it." He said with a wink.

"No!" She said defensively.

"Why won't you just admit that you're madly in love with me?" Ikuto asked grinning.

"Because I'm not!" She yelled at him, but he just grinned even more.

"Are too!"

"Am not!" Amu said angrily. "There's already someone I love, Ikuto, and it's not you!" She blurted unexpectedly. Everyone was suddenly staring at her and she suddenly wished she didn't exist anymore. Ikuto wasn't really grinning anymore. Amu realized that Kukai was right next to her. She wondered when he'd gotten there. She decided to take advantage of it. She grabbed his hand and held it tight.

"Leave me alone Ikuto!" She said. "Stop bothering me all the time!" She ripped the necklace off her neck, which kind of hurt, and threw it at him. Kukai was staring at her, shocked. Probably because he'd never seen her angry like that. And she was holding his hand.

"Alright, I'll see you in your dreams then." Ikuto said before walking away, leaving Amu frustrated and wishing she could punch him in the face.

Kukai could see that she was angry, so he squeezed her hand, making her look at him and smiled. His heart began beating faster when she smiled back at him.

Amu let go of his hand and prepared herself to face the rest of the guardians for all the questions they were about to ask about their newfound love.


	12. Backstabbing and Confessions

**Yes, that's right, I updated :D I'm going to be finishing this story once and for all D Again, I don't have the same ideas that I had like.. Two years ago? Plus I haven't watched or read Shugo Chara in a really long time. So I apologize if some of the character's are a bit ooc, or if the story isn't as good as the beginning. But except for that, I hope you guys enjoy. Plus, I'm open to suggestions on the ending, because I have no idea what it could be C: You **_**will**_** get credit if you give me an idea ^-^ **

Amu woke up, immensely happy. How could she not be? She was finally going out with Kukai! They'd hung out after the whole fight with Ikuto and Kukai had asked her out. Obviously she'd said yes. It had been a week since then and everything just felt so… Perfect! Amu felt completely out of character, but she was so happy that it didn't even matter.

"She's practically glowing." Ran commented.

"I swear she's never been this happy." Su said with a smile. She was sitting on Amu's phone, and practically screamed when it vibrated.

Amu picked the phone up and checked for a message.

**Yaya; Amu-chi should come get ice cream with Yaya-chan. **

Amu didn't know what to reply. It wasn't often that Yaya asked to do something with her. When she did, it was usually because she wanted something. Though, not wanting to be rude she said she would go with her.

As Amu walked to the ice cream shop, she started thinking of Ikuto. She hadn't seen him since that day. She wondered if he hated her now. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the thought. He was a creep, and she was going to force herself not to care.

Amu spotted Yaya immediately, sitting at one of the outside tables. Something felt wrong though. She didn't look happy to see Amu. She just sort of, glared at her. She looked so.. Un-Yaya like.

"Is something wrong?" Amu asked, sitting down in front of her.

"It's funny." Yaya began in a serious tone. "I never thought of you as a backstabber before."

Amu froze. What the heck was going on here? A backstabber?

"I.. What do you mean?" She asked nervously. She didn't like where this was going.

"You know exactly what I mean." She said with the angriest look on her face Amu had ever seen. "You can't honestly believe Kukai loves _you._"

"What?" This was about Kukai?

"I was here before you." Yaya "And it's not _fair_ that _you_ of all people gets him."

"Yaya I thought we were friends." Amu said blankly. She didn't know how to react to this. She'd always known Yaya was annoying but this was just, completely unlike her. She was being, rude and just darn right mean!

"I thought so too." Yaya said as she stood up. "And if you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from Kukai."

Was she being threatened? By Yaya of all people? Without another word, Yaya walked away. Not even looking back.

As Amu walked home she couldn't help but think about the day's events. She still couldn't believe Yaya had acted the way she did.

"Hinamori-san!" Amu turned around and came face-to-face with Tadase. She smiled at him. "How are you?" He asked, and at that moment, she didn't know what came over her but she lost her cool and blurted everything that had just happened as they walked. Tadase didn't say anything, he was deep in thought.

"I think," He said, "That she was only overreacting because she was hurt. I don't think she really meant what she said."

Amu nodded. It made sense. She hoped that was it, anyways.

"Hinamori-san, there's something I… I'd like to ask of you." Tadase suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and looked down, his cheeks slightly red. "I've realized something lately, and… I just need to tell you." He suddenly looked Amy directly in the eyes. "Hinamori-san, I love you." He said. Amy felt her face turn bright red and her heart pounded against her chest. _What_ had he just said?

"T-Tadase-Kun.. I.." She honestly had no idea what to say. To be honest, she had not expected this to ever happen. At all. She barely even thought of him that way anymore. She suddenly felt angry. When she had the biggest crush ever on him, he said nothing. Now that she was happy with Kukai, he said he loved her? Was he just trying to mess with her head?

"I should go home." Amu said blankly. There was a devastated look on Tadase's face, but he nodded.

"I understand." He said.

And with that she left. She didn't think of anything until she got home and collapsed on her bed. Since when did her life become so dramatic?


End file.
